I wish we had more time

After a string of brutally hot days and overloaded evaporative coolers and central AC units, Socorro is starting to feel the drop in temperature. At 6 a.m. it’s just below 70 degrees. After a rain storm blows through, the air smells clean and the sky is gorgeous with cloud formations and the setting sun. It may not be your grandma’s monsoon, but I’ll take the respite from unrelenting 100-degree days. And if I could order up a little more rain, that would be great, thanks.

As the weather changes, you can feel moods lifting a little bit. Teachers, parents and school kids are back in the swing, Tech students are all moved in and heading to classes, and the social calendar is starting to get busy again. Football starts Friday night!

The Community Yard Sale is on the plaza this Saturday, alongside the Farmers Market. Also this weekend is an ice cream social, bingo night at the senior center and as always, some great live music at the brew pubs near the plaza. My dear departed brother’s birthday is this weekend, and it’s traditional to raise a beer in toast to him and then to check the air pressure in my tires. I’ll definitely be doing that.

Hot August Nights returns the following week and the Socorro Fair and Rodeo are coming up fast, Aug. 30 to Sept. 3. I hear there’s going to be a stick horse rodeo… and corgi racing? I wouldn’t miss that for the world.

Socorrofest happens Sept. 15-16 on the plaza. I can’t wait to see this free two-day celebration of music and the arts, with food and drink vendors, a three-on-three basketball tournament, e-Sports and kids’ events. Keep an eye out for announcements about this event.

And don’t forget to look for the subtle signs of the season’s end and another’s beginning. It’s subtle here in the desert, but it’s there.

Usually around this time of year, I get a new calendar or planner, and start filling in the events and dates. I have been on the academic calendar most of my professional career, switching over to a fiscal year calendar for the nonprofit I worked for most recently.

In the years when I taught at the university and community college, I planned a 15-week course, one week at a time, and could tell you that in October, on a Thursday, the class would be working on the product analysis essay, maybe. Or perhaps group presentations.Students usually did not look ahead too far in the future, and were often taken by surprise when assignments came due, or class met in the library.

One of the assignments I used to give in August (or January) is the Six-Word Memoir. The simple task is to come up with six words, a sentence or phrase, or even a list, that tells a story or provides insight into the author.

Here are some examples: Please pay in coffee, chocolate, books. One box of tissues wasn’t enough.I am not so easily summarized.

Mine, from years ago, holds true today: I wish we had more time.

That’s my story. Tell me yours.